Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-SC), a key ally of President Joe Biden, hammered Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) over his presidential campaign.

Clyburn, the House assistant Democratic leader, derided Phillips's decision to run as "very, very disrespectful," he told Politico. He played a key role in having Biden win the Democratic nomination in 2020 due to a well-timed endorsement after a string of primary embarrassments.

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Clyburn was also enraged by Phillips's decision to take advantage of Biden's absence from the New Hampshire primary ballot, which is due to a complicated feud between the state and the Democratic National Committee. Phillips's appearance on the ballot would be nearly guaranteed to win him the state.

"I think Dean Phillips has a huge opportunity here to just crack the Democrat Party wide open," Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) said last week.

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Meanwhile, Phillips has been beefing up his campaign, tapping Jeff Weaver, a central figure in Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-VT) presidential campaigns, and Zach Graumann, who managed tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang's 2020 presidential campaign, the Washington Post reported.

Steve Schmidt, a top adviser for John McCain's 2008 presidential run, is planning to leave Phillips's campaign so he can form a super PAC, which will be used to raise money for the Minnesota Democrat.